Women 5000: Culley, Huddle, Amazing Conley Sprint

A race to the finish decides the 5000 meter team for U.S.A.

Jun 28, 2012

Julie Culley, Molly Huddle, and Kim Conley are going to the London Olympics in the 5000 meters, but the story of last night's U.S. Olympic trials race at Hayward Field may be the woman who isn't ticketed to the Games: Julia Lucas.

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In a stunning conclusion to a frenetic race, Conley nipped Lucas by four-one-hundreths of a second for third place. The thin spread was in sharp contrast to the length-length lead Lucas had built on the pack starting with three laps to go. Earlier in the race, Huddle, Culley, and Conley pushed the pace, with Huddle on top. But then Lucas ripped to the lead in a move she later admitted was a "screw-up." While she maintained her edge through the next two laps, Lucas first got passed by Huddle with a half a lap to go, and then by Culley, who eventually sprinted to the win.

All that was left was who would capture the final Olympic spot. Conley, by the thinnest of margins, claimed the berth, flashing past Abbey D'Agostino first and then Lucas in the final meters of the race.

Below are the results of the women's 5000. Quotes from the three finishers will be posted shortly.

Julia Lucas, fourth-place finisher: "I completely went underwater and ran off the team...I thought that a long, extended push would be the way to go. And it came back and bit me. I just didn't have it. in the last hundred i was just underwater. I thought I had it until I looked at the board. i gave that race away. If the race had gone 10 different ways, I think I would have won eight."

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"Even when I crossed the line I thought I had her. I thought I was a tenth ahead and that was not the case."

"It was my responsibility to get through this race well, and I did not."

Women's 5,000 semi-finalsThe women's 5,000 meter field, which has looked wide open as 11 women with A standards entered the race, became much clearer on Monday as pre-race contender Jackie Areson failed to qualify, and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet and Lauren Fleshman needed to kick hard to nab qualifying spots in heat two. Fleshman, who was seventh at last year's world championships but is battling a knee injury, said she hadn't expected to make the final. "I'm overwhelmed," she said. "I don't know how I did it."

Newly minted 15:08 runner Julia Lucas and American record holder Molly Huddle qualified easily in heats one and two, respectively, and should be co-favorites in Thursday's final. Pain in Lucas's right seismoid bone forced her to take a week off in June following a 4:07 1500 PR. "I made the right decision," she said. "It's a hundred percent gone."

Huddle—who has raced only twice since January—has been training hard with New Zealand marathoner Kim Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, but looked comfortable finishing second to heat winner Liz Maloy. "I was definitely tired last month but I'm starting to freshen up," she said. Maloy and Julie Culley, second in heat one, both own A standards and will likely contend for a place on the team to London.

Preview: The 5000 final could well turn into a mad scramble over the last two laps. The American record-holder, Molly Huddle, has shown decent but not domineering fitness this spring. The fastest American of the year, Julia Lucas, doesn't have the blazing closing speed often needed to make Olympic teams. There are several young, relatively unknown women, such as Jackie Areson, who could either dazzle or crumple under the pressure.

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